Radio Atlantic, IA – AM 1220

Nelson: Cap farm payments to mega-farms

March 22nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) says he and a bipartisan group of senators will seek to cap federal farm payments to large farming operations. Nelson said Wednesday that the group plans to introduce a measure to limit payments to so-called mega-farms. Nelson says that with farm income booming and the national deficit soaring, “the time has come to rein in these payments.” Nelson, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, is sponsoring the proposal with Democratic Sens. Tom Harkin, of Iowa; Tim Johnson, of South Dakota; Sherrod Brown, of Ohio; and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York; and Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, and Mike Enzi, of Wyoming, Nelson says he hopes the measure will be included in the federal farm bill being crafted by Congress.